Mayor Greg Dionne, Connie Gerwing, Dr. Bill Waiser and Christine Hamilton pose with the plaque (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

National Heritage

Diefenbaker house given special designation

Aug 16, 2019 | 5:37 PM

The home of a former Prince Albert resident has been recognized by the Government of Canada.

Friday afternoon a plaque was officially unveiled at the John and Olive Diefenbaker Museum which explains the historic importance of the house.

A number of dignitaries were on hand to see the plaque unveiled. MP for Prince Albert Randy Hoback, P.A. Carlton MLA Joe Hargrave, P.A. Northcote MLA Nicole Rancourt and Mayor Greg Dionne all attended.

A number of people spoke about the history of the house and the importance of John Diefenbaker in terms of history. Prior to the ceremonies getting underway there was a prayer by elder Dr. Leo J. Omani. After his prayer, Omani spoke about how during his time in government Diefenbaker helped give First Nation’s people the right to vote. He also told a personal story of how during his days practicing law, the former prime minister helped members of Omani’s family fight to keep their kids out of care and in their communities.

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The federal government was represented by Dr. Bill Waiser a historian formally at the University of Saskatchewan and a member of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada for Saskatchewan. Waiser said he thinks Diefenbaker, who he personally met on a few occasions, would be happy to see the house get recognition.

“This is like the people’s home, this is his legacy, you know the people of Prince Albert and a wider Canada [can] come here and learn something about this man and his second wife and his political career before he became prime minister,” he said.

Waiser added during his career in federal politics, Diefenbaker had an important legacy which included the Bill of Rights and winning the largest electoral majority in the country’s history.

“I think we need to recognize our political leaders and the contributions they made to a better Canada and Diefenbaker is up amongst those people,” he said.

Michelle Taylor, manager and curator for the P.A. Historical Society, said it is an honor for the city to have another national historic site. She added she hopes this will increase the profile of the house which could help the historical society in their work to keep it up and going.

“[Hopefully] we will be able to find a little bit more funding to look after the house properly,” she said.

Taylor said the property is different from other museums as it is a house and needs to be taken care of as such. She added the home is truly a unique place in regards to historic sites in the country.

“It’s very unique. There aren’t that many former prime ministers’ houses as museums,” she said.

A healthy crowd came out to see the plaque unveiled. (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn